I love it when two musicians from completely different musical backgrounds come together and play music. This performance by Sam Bush and Jorma Kaukonen from High Sierra Music Festival on June 30, 2000 could be what influenced Jorma to record Blue Country Heart which is a masterpiece of roots blues and country featuring Jorma, Sam, Bela Fleck, Byron House and Jerry Douglas. The picking in this set is mind blowing and the synergy between Jorma and Sam is amazing. For some of the tunes, Sam plays slide on what he refers to as a ham can which is a National dobro mandolin. Jorma accuses Sam of being a “very disturbed man” for playing such an instrument. The rhetoric between these guys is hilarious. This is one of the favorite live shows in my collection and I hope you find it as much fun as I did. Its a 256kbps MP3 rip of a lossless soundboard and the sound quality is A+. Enjoy!

Jorma Kaukonen & Sam Bush

6/30/00

SBD>Tascam DA-30MKII>digital out>Sek’d Prodif plus soundcard >
Sound Forge>CD Architect>Plextor 8/20

Recording:
Ken “Easy Ed” Edwards
CD Mastering & Seeding:
Ken “Easy Ed” Edwards

01. intro by Wesley Robertson

02. Hesistation Blues

03. the roots of Rock and Roll and Bluegrass

04. Crossroads Blues

05. if you have any questions

06. Sally Where’d You Get Your Liquor From?

07. deeply disturbed

08. How Long Blues

09. my middle name

10. Mann’s Fate

11. favorite Jerry tune

12. Sittin’ on Top of the World

13. (applause)

14. 99 Year Blues

I’ve always loved the vintage aesthetic to this recording. It gives me a good sense of what it might have been like to live in San Francisco during the sixties and bear witness to all sorts of spontaneous musical events. Janis‘ heart wrenching voice is accompanied by the fingerstyle sounds of Jorma Kaukonen on the guitar.

Recorded on June 30, 1964, they call it The Typewriter Tape because you can hear a typewriter in the background played by Margareta Kaukonen (Jorma’s wife at the time) as a percussion instrument. Check it out:

1. Trouble In Mind

2. Long Black Train

3. Kansas City Blues (false start)

4. Kansas City Blues

5. Hesitation Blues

6. (strumming)

7. Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out

8. Daddy, Daddy, Daddy

North Mississippi Allstars performed a concert from WXPN’s World Cafe in Philadelphia on Friday, March 23. NPR broadcasted the show and is offering it in streaming format on their website. North Mississippi Allstars are an amazingly talented band that borrows heavily from the Mississippi Delta Blues but also blends other styles and genres including Soul, Pop, Rap and Rock to create a sound all their own. NPR provides a good introduction:

Led by brothers Luther and Cody Dickinson, the group formed in 1996 in (surprise) northern Mississippi, where its members learned firsthand the rich blues tradition of the area from legends like R.L. Burnside and Junior Kimbrough. After honing its chops as a unit touring with larger acts, the band released 2000’s Shake Hands with Shorty to widespread praise, including a Grammy nomination and a W.C. Handy Award for Best New Artist Debut.

Check it out!

I’ve been wanting to share this bootleg for a long time. The copy that my sister gave to me as a gift years ago is entitled Lonesome Prison Blues. This is Jerry Garcia playing acoustic with John Kahn on the bass in front of a small audience of inmates at the Oregon state penitentiary on 5-5-82.

The recording is decent with only a couple of flaws. Jerry was in great spirits this day and his playing reflects it. Jerry sounds much like he does on Run For The Roses, the last of his solo albums which was recorded around the same time. The Oh Babe It Ain’t No Lie still brings a tear to my eye when I hear it.

Most deadheads will already have this in their collection and if anybody is willing to trade for the lossless soundboard version in circulation I’d love to get a copy. Here is the info from the etree db. As far as I know, this show has never been officially released and is under no copyright restrictions. So sit back, listen and enjoy!

Oregon State Prison, Salem, Or. (5-5-82)

1. Deep Elem Blues 2:30

2. Friend Of The Devil 5:45

3. Jack-A-Roe 4:39

4. Babe, It Ain’t No Lie 6:12

5. It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry 5:33

6. Run For The Roses 3:45

7. Ripple 4:20

8. I’ve Been All Around This World 4:06

9. Valerie 6:32

10. Dire Wolf 3:43

11. Rubin And Cherise 5:50

Kings Of Leon are streaming their first single off their new album Because Of The Times (set to be released sometime this spring) on their MySpace page. The song is called “On Call” and while its a little more down beat than most of the previous KOL stuff it remains true to their sound. Kings of Leon are one of those bands that gets unfairly written off as a Strokes clone. While they do have the retro vibe to them, Kings of Leon have a sound thats all their own and I wouldn’t be suprised to see these guys making great records for many years to come even after the Strokes thing is no longer cool. (via stereogum)

Wolfgang’s Vault has this little gem up for all to stream. They must’ve blown the roof off the Capitol Theater that night. This is classic Grateful Dead doing what they do best. Don’t forget to check out some of the other thousands of amazing shows up for streaming at Wolfgang’s Vault who sadly is under lawsuit by many musicians including the Dead’s own Bob Weir. Check it out!

One of my favorite acts back in the day was the Lemonheads. Takes me back to my high school days of fooling around and having way too much fun. Well they’ve jumped on the comeback bandwagon and will be releasing a new album on 9-26-06. You can stream the first single from the album on the Lemonheads’ Myspace page. The song is called No Backbone and features the guitarist from Dinosaur Jr.

Found this killer reggae album that is actually a reggae version of Radiohead’s OK Computer. It features all sorts of performers including Toots and the Maytals. Some of the songs don’t really sound anything like the Radiohead originals, but they are all really cool takes on the originals. My favorite cut so far is Karma Police. This is from the makers of the Pink Floyd reggae album Dub Side Of The Moon. You can stream four songs off the album here.

Here is the skinny from the site:

“‘Radiodread’ features an impressive array of reggae stars supplying vocals
to the Easy Star All- Stars’ backing tracks. Reggae pioneers Toots and the
Maytals make their Easy Star debut, singing a driving version of “Let Down”
while Citizen Cope’s distinctive voice fuels the haunting “Karma Police.”
Horace Andy (”Airbag”), Morgan Heritage (”Electioneering”), The Meditations (”No Surprises”), Israel Vibration (”The Tourist”), Sugar Minott (”Exit (Music For A Film)”), Frankie Paul (”Lucky”) also join The Easy Star All-Stars for ‘Radiodread.”

Well I’m still a shade tree blogger but I just attained some geek bragging rights as I’m featured in the August issue of Wired Magazine! The issue is a “how to” guide featuring Steven Colbert. I was approached by wired to be their myspace “expert consultant” as a result of a really popular blog I’ve been publishing called Myspacehacks.

I know many of you think that Myspace is for sixteen year old girls and boys but before you dismiss it, check out the following profiles:

Johnny Cash

Tim Obrien

Phil Lesh & Friends

Donna the Buffalo

South Austin Jug Band

Seldome Scene

Dark Star Orchestra

King Wilkie

Neil Young

Nickel Creek

Todd Snider

Tha MuseMeant

David Gans

My Morning Jacket

Railroad Earth

Wilco

The Flaming Lips

Myspace is basically a never ending supply of streaming music from any artist you can imagine and that is very cool.

I’m streaming the new Tom Petty solo album Highway Companion on Rhapsody. So far I have to say it rocks just like everything Petty touches. Highway Companion has a more honest, less radio friendly appeal to it not unlike his record Echo which is one of my favorites despite the fact that it was relatively unsuccessful in the market. Tom Petty has also done some great interviews lately namely this one for Harp magazine and this one for Rolling Stone. In these interviews, Petty talks very candidly about his marriage to his new wife, life in his Malibu home and the impending end of his carreer as an artist. He proclaims that the Heartbreakers probably won’t tour much longer which makes me sad because IMO they are one of the best touring acts in rock ‘n roll today.

Another thing that I find completely cool about Tom Petty is despite the fact that the Red Hot Chili Peppers blatantly ripped off Last Dance With Mary Jane for their new song Dani California Petty has said:

“Everyone everywhere is stopping me. The truth is, I seriously doubt that there is any negative intent there. And a lot of rock & roll songs sound alike. Ask Chuck Berry. The Strokes took “American Girl” [for their song “Last Nite”], and I saw an interview with them where they actually admitted it. That made me laugh out loud. I was like, “OK, good for you.” It doesn’t bother me.”

Petty is such a cool guy in adition to being incredibly talented performer/songwriter/rock god!

Stream the new Tom Petty album Highway Companion for free here.